Service scheduling and notification systems for patient support apparatuses

ABSTRACT

Patient support apparatuses include a frame, support surface, and a controller. The controller provides notification to a user of a service event relating to the patient support apparatus. The controller limits functionality of a component of the patient support apparatus based upon a severity of the service event. The controller may also, or alternatively, detect when a control is activated by a user and, in response to such activation, determine whether the patient support apparatus has been marked for use or marked for servicing. If marked for use, the controller responds in a first manner, and if marked for service, the controller responds in a different manner. In other embodiments, a method is provided for determining an order in which multiple patient support apparatuses should be service. In still other embodiments, the patient support apparatus automatically changes to an unusable configuration when in need of high priority service.

BACKGROUND

This application claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/786,699 filed Oct. 18, 2017, by inventors Krishna Bhimavarapu et al.and entitled SERVICE SCHEDULING AND NOTIFICATION SYSTEMS FOR PATIENTSUPPORT APPARATUSES, which in turn claims priority to U.S. provisionalpatent application Ser. No. 62/410,869 filed Oct. 21, 2016, by inventorsKrishna Bhimavarapu et al. and entitled SERVICE SCHEDULING ANDNOTIFICATION SYSTEMS FOR PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSES, the completedisclosures of both of which are hereby incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to patient support apparatuses—such asbeds, stretchers, cots, and the like—and more particularly to systemsand methods for handling the servicing of such patient supportapparatuses.

Patient support apparatuses are used in healthcare facilities, such ashospitals and the like, to support patients. As with all medicalequipment, patient support apparatuses need to be occasionally serviced,either as part of a routine maintenance schedule, or in response toissues arising from one or more components. Performing such servicingcan be challenging for technicians because the healthcare facility maycontinue to use the patient support apparatuses when they are in need ofservicing, thereby preventing the technician from performing therequired servicing because such servicing is typically only performedwhen the patient support apparatus is not being used.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure provides systems and methods for improving theservicing of patient support apparatuses and/or other equipment.According to various aspects, the systems and methods coordinate theavailability of patient support apparatuses for servicing with thearrival of a technician; help the technician plan his or her servicingschedule while at the healthcare facility; help the healthcare facilitycontinue to use patient support apparatuses needing low priority serviceuntil the technician arrives, thereby providing the healthcare facilitywith more efficient usage of their patient support apparatuses; andprevent the healthcare facility from using patient support apparatusesthat are in need of high priority service. Still other features andadvantages are discussed in greater detail below.

According to one embodiment, a patient support apparatus is providedthat includes a frame, a support surface, and a controller. The supportsurface is supported on the frame and adapted to support a patientthereon. The controller provides notification to a user of a serviceevent relating to the patient support apparatus, and the controllerfurther limits functionality of a component of the patient supportapparatus based upon a severity of the service event.

According to other aspects, the severity of the service event isdetermined by a remote device in communication with the controller or,in other embodiments, by the patient support apparatus itself.

In some embodiments, the severity of the service event is categorizedaccording to at least three levels. A first one of the three levelscorresponds to a high priority level, a second one of the three levelscorresponds to a medium priority level, and a third one of the threelevels corresponds to a low priority level.

When three or more levels are provided, the controller is configured insome embodiments to not limit functionality of the component of thepatient support apparatus if the service event corresponds to a lowpriority level. The controller, however, may limit functionality of thecomponent of the patient support apparatus if the service eventcorresponds to a medium priority level. Further, the controller maycompletely eliminate functionality of the component if the service eventcorresponds to a high priority level.

In some embodiments, the service event relates to service needed for asecond component of the patient support apparatus that is different fromthe component whose functionality is limited.

The controller may be configured to detect the service event, or theservice event may be detected by a remote device in communication withthe controller.

The service event, in some embodiments, is a detection of a condition ofthe patient support apparatus warranting service by a service person.Alternatively, the service event, in other embodiments, is a schedulingof a time at which the patient support apparatus is to be serviced by aservice person, or an arrival of a time window associated with ascheduled service time of the patient support apparatus. The time windowis adjustable by a user, in some embodiments.

The component whose functionality is limited is a motor, in someembodiments, and the controller prevents the motor from operating in atleast one direction.

In other embodiments, the service event relates to a load cell of thepatient support apparatus and the controller limits functionality of ascale of the patient support apparatus by preventing a weightmeasurement from being taken.

In still other embodiments, the service event relates to a load cell ofthe patient support apparatus and the controller limits functionality ofan exit detection system of the patient support apparatus by preventingthe exit detection system from being armed.

A user interface is provided on the patient support apparatus in someembodiments. The user interface enables a user to change a state of thepatient support apparatus from an in-use state to a ready-for-servicestate. In some such embodiments, the service event is the user changingthe state of the patient support apparatus to the ready-for-servicestate. The controller may send a message to a remote device in responseto the user changing the state of the patient support apparatus. Themessage indicates the current state of the patient support apparatus.

According to still other aspects, the patient support apparatus includesa visual indicator that is illuminated when a control on the patientsupport apparatus is activated. The control is for controlling afunction of the patient support apparatus other than the illumination ofthe visual indicator, and the illumination of the visual indicatorthereby provides a visual indication of limited functionality to theuser.

According to another embodiment, a patient support apparatus is providedthat includes a frame, a support surface, a first control, and acontroller. The first control is for carrying out a first function ofthe patient support apparatus. The controller detects when the firstcontrol is activated by a user and, in response to such activation,determines whether the patient support apparatus has been marked for useor marked for servicing. If the patient support apparatus has beenmarked for use, the controller responds to the activation of the firstcontrol in a first manner. If the patient support apparatus has beenmarked for service, the controller responds to the activation of thefirst control in second manner that is different from the first manner.

According to other aspects, the first manner includes carrying out thefirst function of the patient support apparatus and the second mannerincludes not carrying out the first function of the patient supportapparatus.

Alternatively, the first manner includes carrying out the first functionof the patient support apparatus and the second manner includes carryingout the first function of the patient support apparatus simultaneouslywith a second function of the patient support apparatus.

As another alternative, the first manner includes carrying out the firstfunction of the patient support apparatus without a predetermined limit,and the second manner includes carrying out the first function of thepatient support apparatus with the predetermined limit.

As yet another alternative, the first manner includes carrying out thefirst function of the patient support apparatus and the second mannerincludes carrying out the first function of the patient supportapparatus and changing how the controller reacts to a subsequentactivation of a second control for carrying out a second function of thepatient support apparatus.

The second function, in some embodiments, includes providing a visualindication to the user that the patient support apparatus has beenmarked for service. The visual indication may be provided byilluminating a light that is not illuminated when the first function iscarried out in the first manner.

The second function, in some embodiments, includes displaying on adisplay of the patient support apparatus a time at which service hasbeen scheduled for the patient support apparatus.

The patient support apparatus also includes, in some embodiments, asecond control adapted to allow a user to mark the patient supportapparatus for service. The controller may restrict use of the secondcontrol to authorized users. The second control is accessed via a userinterface on board the patient support apparatus in some embodiments,and the controller restricts use of the second control by requiring apasscode.

According to other aspects, the patient support apparatus includes atransceiver for communicating with a remote device, and the patientsupport apparatus is able to be marked for service in response to amessage received from the remote device.

Alternatively, or additionally, the controller marks the patient supportapparatus for service based upon data received from a sensor on boardthe patient support.

The second manner in which the controller responds to the activation ofthe first control varies, in some embodiments, based upon a comparisonof a current time and date with a scheduled service time and date. Thesecond manner may include not carrying out the first function if thecurrent time and date fall within a time window associated with thescheduled service time and date. The second manner may also vary basedupon a severity level associated with the service for which the patientsupport apparatus has been marked.

The patient support apparatus also includes, in some embodiments, asecond control that allows a user to mark the patient support apparatusas available for servicing.

The first control may be a button wherein the first function activates amotor onboard the patient support apparatus.

According to another embodiment, a computer-implemented method formanaging a plurality of patient support apparatuses in a medicalfacility is provided. The method includes executing on one or moreprocessors the following steps: receiving data indicating that a firstpatient support apparatus has been scheduled for service, and sending amessage to the first patient support apparatus indicating it has beenscheduled for service. The message causes the first patient supportapparatus to provide an indication to a user that the first patientsupport apparatus has been scheduled for service.

According to other aspects, the method further includes receiving usagedata from the plurality of patient support apparatuses; analyzing theusage data; and determining if a second patient support apparatus of theplurality of patient support apparatuses should be serviced.

In some embodiments, the data indicating that the first patient supportapparatus has been scheduled for service is received from a computerapplication in communication with a local area network. The computerapplication may be executed on a mobile computing device able to becarried by a user. The mobile computing device is, in some embodiments,a smart phone, tablet computer, or a laptop computer.

In other embodiments, the method further includes receiving additionaldata indicating that a second patient support apparatus has beenscheduled for service, and sending a message to the second patientsupport apparatus indicating it has been scheduled for service. Themessage causes the second patient support apparatus to provide anindication to a user that the second patient support apparatus has beenscheduled for service. In such embodiments, the method may furtherinclude generating a suggested order in which the first and secondpatient support apparatuses should be serviced. Still further, in suchembodiments, the method may also include receiving location dataindicating a location of the first and second patient supportapparatuses, receiving availability for servicing data from each of thefirst and second patient support apparatuses, and using the locationdata and availability for servicing data to generate the suggested orderin which the first and second patient support apparatuses should beserviced.

In some embodiments, the method also includes sending a second messageto the first patient support apparatus instructing the first patientsupport apparatus to change to an unusable configuration until servicingof the first patient support apparatus commences.

According to another embodiment, a computer-implemented method formanaging a plurality of patient support apparatuses in a medicalfacility is provided. The method includes receiving first dataindicating that a first patient support apparatus has been scheduled forservice; receiving second data indicating that a second patient supportapparatus has been scheduled for service; and generating a suggestedorder in which the first and second patient support apparatuses shouldbe serviced.

According to other aspects, the method further includes receivinglocation data indicating a location of the first and second patientsupport apparatuses; receiving servicing availability data from each ofthe first and second patient support apparatuses; and using the locationdata and servicing availability data to generate the suggested order inwhich the first and second patient support apparatuses should beserviced.

The method also includes, in some embodiments, receiving technician dataindicating a technician's presence at the medical facility; determiningwhich ones of the other patient support apparatuses are available forservice; and generating a list of the other patient support apparatusesthat are available for service.

In still other embodiments, the method also includes communicating atime at which the first patient support apparatus has been scheduled forservice to the first patient support apparatus; and communicating a timeat which the second patient support apparatus has been scheduled forservice to the second patient support apparatus. In some suchembodiments, the first patient support apparatus displays the time atwhich it has been scheduled for service on its display; and the secondpatient support apparatus displays the time at which it has beenscheduled for service on its display.

The method may also or alternatively include sending a message to thefirst patient support apparatus instructing the first patient supportapparatus to change to an unusable configuration until servicing of thefirst patient support apparatus commences. The unusable configurationmay include locking a plurality of motors on the patient supportapparatus.

According to still another embodiment, a computer-implemented method formanaging a plurality of patient support apparatuses in a medicalfacility is provided. The method includes receiving usage data from theplurality of patient support apparatuses; analyzing the usage data;determining if any of the patient support apparatuses should be markedfor service based on the analyzed usage data; and if at least one of thepatient support apparatuses should be marked for service, sending amessage to a computer located remote from the medical facility.

In other aspects, the method includes sending service type data to theremote computer. The service type data indicates a type of service whichshould be performed on a corresponding patient support apparatus (e.g.replace, repair, lubricate, calibrate, etc.). The service type data mayalso include data indicating an identity of a component needingreplacement on the corresponding patient support apparatus.

In some embodiments, the computer is located remote from the medicalfacility is a computer located at a service center.

The method may also include interrogating an inventory control computerto determine if a replacement component is on-site at the medicalfacility. The replacement component is a replacement for the componentneeding replacement on the corresponding patient support apparatus.

According to still another embodiment of the present disclosure, acomputer-implemented method for managing a plurality of patient supportapparatuses in a medical facility is provided. The method includesreceiving data indicating a first patient support apparatus is in needof service; determining a priority level associated with the service inwhich the first patient support apparatus is in need; and

if the priority level exceeds a predetermined level, sending a messageto the first patient support apparatus instructing the first patientsupport apparatus to change to an unusable configuration until servicingof the first patient support apparatus commences.

In other aspects, the method includes interrogating a tracking serverprior to sending the message. The tracking server provides informationindicating whether the first patient support apparatus is currentlyassigned to a patient or not. The method may also include delaying thesending of the message to the first patient support apparatus until thetracking server indicates the first patient support apparatus is notcurrently assigned to a patient.

In some embodiments, the method includes determining if a current timeand date fall within a time window associated with a scheduled servicetime and date for the first patient support apparatus, and sending themessage to the first patient support apparatus if the current time anddate fall within the time window.

The data indicating the first patient support apparatus is in need ofservice may be received from a database that includes records indicatinga previous time and date of service and a recommended service intervalbetween service dates.

Before the various embodiments disclosed herein are explained in detail,it is to be understood that the claims are not to be limited to thedetails of operation or to the details of construction and thearrangement of the components set forth in the following description orillustrated in the drawings. The embodiments described herein arecapable of being practiced or being carried out in alternative ways notexpressly disclosed herein. Also, it is to be understood that thephraseology and terminology used herein are for the purpose ofdescription and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of“including” and “comprising” and variations thereof is meant toencompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well asadditional items and equivalents thereof. Further, enumeration may beused in the description of various embodiments. Unless otherwiseexpressly stated, the use of enumeration should not be construed aslimiting the claims to any specific order or number of components. Norshould the use of enumeration be construed as excluding from the scopeof the claims any additional steps or components that might be combinedwith or into the enumerated steps or components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an illustrative patient supportapparatus incorporating one or more of the various features of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a control system according to one embodiment thatmay be implemented in various patient support apparatuses, such as, butnot limited to, the one of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is diagram of a patient support apparatus servicing systemaccording to one embodiment;

FIG. 4A is a first portion of a flow diagram for a servicing methodaccording to one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4B is a second portion of the flow diagram of FIG. 4A;

FIG. 4C is a third portion of the flow diagram of FIG. 4A;

FIG. 4D is a fourth portion of the flow diagram of FIG. 4A;

FIG. 4E is a fifth portion of the flow diagram of FIG. 4A;

FIG. 4F is a sixth portion of the flow diagram of FIG. 4A;

FIG. 4G is a seventh portion of the flow diagram of FIG. 4A;

FIG. 4H is an eighth portion of the flow diagram of FIG. 4A;

FIG. 4I is a ninth portion of the flow diagram of FIG. 4A; and

FIG. 5 is a diagram of an automotive servicing system according toanother embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

An illustrative patient support apparatus 20 that incorporates one ormore aspects of the present disclosure is shown in FIG. 1. Although theparticular form of patient support apparatus 20 illustrated in FIG. 1 isa bed adapted for use in a hospital or other medical setting, it will beunderstood that patient support apparatus 20 could, in differentembodiments, be a cot, a stretcher, a gurney, a recliner, an operatingtable, or any other structure capable of supporting a person, whetherstationary or mobile.

In general, patient support apparatus 20 includes a base 22 having aplurality of wheels 24, a pair of lifts 26 supported on the base, alitter frame 28 supported on the lifts 26, and a support deck 30supported on the litter frame 28. Patient support apparatus 20 furtherincludes a headboard (not shown), a footboard 34, and a plurality ofsiderails 36. Siderails 36 are all shown in a raised position in FIG. 1but are each individually movable to a lower position in which ingressinto, and egress out of, patient support apparatus 20 is not obstructedby the lowered siderails 36.

Lifts 26 are adapted to raise and lower litter frame 28 with respect tobase 22. Lifts 26 may be hydraulic actuators, electric actuators, or anyother suitable device for raising and lowering litter frame 28 withrespect to base 22. In the illustrated embodiment, lifts 26 are operableindependently so that the tilting of litter frame 28 with respect tobase 22 can also be adjusted. That is, litter frame 28 includes a headend 38 and a foot end 40, each of whose height can be independentlyadjusted by the nearest lift 26. Patient support apparatus 20 isdesigned so that when an occupant lies thereon, his or her head will bepositioned adjacent head end 38 and his or her feet will be positionedadjacent foot end 40.

Litter frame 28 provides a structure for supporting support deck 30, theheadboard, footboard 34, and siderails 36. Support deck 30 provides asupport surface for a mattress (not shown in FIG. 1), or other softcushion, so that a person may lie and/or sit thereon. The top surface ofthe mattress or other cushion forms a support surface for the occupant.Support deck 30 is made of a plurality of sections, some of which arepivotable about generally horizontal pivot axes. In the embodiment shownin FIG. 1, support deck 30 includes a head section 42, a seat section44, a thigh section 46, and a foot section 48. Head section 42, which isalso sometimes referred to as a Fowler section, is pivotable about agenerally horizontal pivot axis between a generally horizontalorientation (not shown in FIG. 1) and a plurality of raised positions(one of which is shown in FIG. 1). Thigh section 46 and foot section 48may also be pivotable about generally horizontal pivot axes.

The mechanical construction of patient support apparatus 20 may be thesame as, or nearly the same as, the mechanical construction of the Model3002 S3 bed manufactured and sold by Stryker Corporation of Kalamazoo,Mich. This mechanical construction is described in greater detail in theStryker Maintenance Manual for the MedSurg Bed, Model 3002 S3, publishedin 2010 by Stryker Corporation of Kalamazoo, Mich., the completedisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. It will beunderstood by those skilled in the art that patient support apparatus 20can be designed with other types of mechanical constructions, such as,but not limited to, those described in commonly assigned, U.S. Pat. No.7,690,059 issued to Lemire et al., and entitled HOSPITAL BED; and/orcommonly assigned U.S. Pat. publication No. 2007/0163045 filed by Beckeret al. and entitled PATIENT HANDLING DEVICE INCLUDING LOCAL STATUSINDICATION, ONE-TOUCH FOWLER ANGLE ADJUSTMENT, AND POWER-ON ALARMCONFIGURATION, the complete disclosures of both of which are also herebyincorporated herein by reference. The mechanical construction of patientsupport apparatus 20 may also take on forms different from what isdisclosed in the aforementioned references.

As shown more clearly in FIG. 2, patient support apparatus 20 includes acontrol system 50 having a controller 52, one or more motors 54, a userinterface 56, a display 58, a clock 60, an exit detection system and/orscale 62 having a plurality of load cells 64, and a transceiver 66.Control system 50 controls a plurality of different aspects of patientsupport apparatus 20 and, as will be discussed in more detail below,takes one or more actions in response to a service event that isdetected with respect to patient support apparatus 20.

Controller 52 (FIG. 2) is constructed of any electrical component, orgroup of electrical components, that are capable of carrying out thefunctions described herein. In many embodiments, controller 52 is aconventional microcontroller, although not all such embodiments needinclude a microcontroller. In general, controller 52 includes any one ormore microprocessors, microcontrollers, field programmable gate arrays,systems on a chip, volatile or nonvolatile memory, discrete circuitry,and/or other hardware, software, or firmware that is capable of carryingout the functions described herein, as would be known to one of ordinaryskill in the art. Such components can be physically configured in anysuitable manner, such as by mounting them to one or more circuit boards,or arranging them in other manners, whether combined into a single unitor distributed across multiple units. The instructions followed bycontroller 52 in carrying out the functions described herein, as well asthe data necessary for carrying out these functions, are stored in amemory (not labeled) accessible to controller 52.

Motors 54 (FIG. 2) are used to move one or more components of patientsupport apparatus 20 and operate under the control of controller 52. Insome embodiments, one or more motors 54 are incorporated into one ormore linear actuators. Motors 54 may be used to power lifts 26, pivothead section 42, pivot foot section 48 and/or thigh section 46, driveone or more powered wheels on patient support apparatus 20 forfacilitating transport of patient support apparatus 20 to differentlocations, and/or for still other purposes.

User interface 56 (FIG. 2) communicates with controller 52 and enables auser of patient support apparatus 20 to control one or more aspects ofpatient support apparatus 20, including exit detection system/scale 62(discussed below). User interface 56 is implemented in the embodimentshown in FIG. 1 as a control panel having a lid (flipped down in FIG. 1)underneath which is positioned a plurality of controls. Thecontrols—which may be buttons, dials, switches, or other devices—allowsa user to control various aspects of patient support apparatus 20, suchas, but not limited to, moving one or more components of patient supportapparatus 20 (via motors 54), selecting one or more functions carriedout by controller 52 (e.g. monitoring patient activity, turns, movement,etc.), taking a weight reading of the patient via exit detection/scalesystem 62, selecting a mode of operation of exit detection/scale system62 and/or arming and disarming exit detection/scale system 62. AlthoughFIG. 1 illustrates user interface 56 mounted to footboard 34, it will beunderstood that user interface 56 can be positioned elsewhere, and/orthat one or more additional user interfaces can be added to patientsupport apparatus 20 in different locations, such as the siderails 36,for controlling various aspects of patient support apparatus 20.

Display 58 (FIG. 2) is also in communication with controller 52 and isadapted to display information regarding patient support apparatus 20.Display 58 is a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), in some embodiments. Inother embodiments, display 58 may be a cathodoluminescent display (e.g.a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) display), an electroluminescent display (e.g.an Active-Matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) display), aphotoluminescent display (e.g. a plasma display), and/or an incandescentdisplay (e.g. a seven segment display). In still other embodiments,display 58 includes touch screen technology associated with it andreacts to touches on the surface of display 58. It will also beunderstood that, in some embodiments of patient support apparatus 20,more than one display 58 may be included.

Clock 60 (FIG. 2) is a clock used by controller 52 to keep track of boththe time of day and the date. As will be discussed in greater detailbelow, controller 52 uses clock 60 for keeping track of and/orscheduling tasks associated with the servicing of patient supportapparatus 20. In some embodiments, clock 60 is updated and operates inone of the manners disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 62/361,092 filed Jul. 12, 2016, by inventors AnujSidhu et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSES WITH CLOCKS, thecomplete disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.Other types of clocks can of course be used.

Exit detection/scale system 62 includes a plurality of force sensorsthat detect downward forces exerted by the patient onto patient supportapparatus 20. In the illustrated embodiment (FIG. 2), the force sensorsare implemented as load cells 64. However, it will be understood thatother types of force sensors may be used. Indeed, in some embodiments,the exit detection function of system 62 is carried out using no forcesensors, such as by using one or more video cameras, as disclosed incommonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/578,630, filedDec. 22, 2014, by inventors Richard Derenne et al. and entitled VIDEOMONITORING SYSTEM, or by using one or more accelerometers, such asdisclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No.62/253,167 filed Nov. 11, 2015, by inventors Marko Kostic et al. andentitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSES WITH ACCELERATION DETECTION, thecomplete disclosures of both of which are hereby incorporated herein byreference.

Load cells 64 detect downward forces exerted by an occupant of supportdeck 30. Thus, when an occupant is positioned on support deck 30 andsubstantially still (i.e. not moving in a manner involving accelerationsthat cause forces to be exerted against support deck 30), load cells 64detect the weight of the occupant (as well as the weight of anycomponents of patient support apparatus 20 that are supported—directlyor indirectly—by force sensors 64). Exit detection/scale system 62 isthereby able to perform the scale function of measuring the weight ofthe patient, or other occupant, of patient support apparatus 20.

The exit detection function of system 62 determines when an occupant ofpatient support apparatus 20 is likely to exit patient support apparatus20. More specifically, system 62 is adapted to determine when anoccupant is likely to leave prior to the occupant actually leaving, andto issue an alert and/or notification to appropriate personnel so thatproper steps can be taken in response to the occupant's imminentdeparture in a timely fashion. In some embodiments, exit detection isperformed by determining a center of gravity of the occupant (based uponthe outputs and known relative locations of load cells 64) in order todetermine if the occupant is about to exit patient support apparatus 20.In one such embodiment, exit detection/scale system 62 determines thiscenter of gravity using the system and method disclosed in commonlyassigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,432 issued to Travis and entitled PATIENTEXIT DETECTION MECHANISM FOR HOSPITAL BED, the complete disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference.

In other embodiments, other algorithms may be used to determine if thepatient is about to exit from patient support apparatus 20. For example,in one such alternative embodiment, the outputs from load cells 64 areanalyzed, not to determine a center of gravity, but instead to determineone or more ratios of the relative weights sensed by the load cells 64(e.g. the weight of the left side load cells 64 compared to the totalweight, or the weight of the right side load cells compared to the totalweight, or still other ratios) and those ratios are used to determine ifthe occupant is about to exit patient support apparatus 20.

Transceiver 66 (FIG. 2) is used to communicate with one or moreoff-board devices. Transceiver 66 may be coupled to a port for receivingone or more wires or cables, or it may be a wireless transceiver coupledto an antenna, or other wireless transmitting means (e.g. infraredtransmitter). In some embodiments, one or more transceivers 66 areincluded that communicate both via wire and wirelessly. When a port isincluded, the port may be an Ethernet port for coupling to an Ethernetcable that is coupled to a healthcare facility computer network 68 (FIG.3). In alternative embodiments, the port may be a serial port, such asfor a Universal Serial Bus (USB), that communicates with one or morecomputers of the healthcare facility computer network 68. If transceiver66 is a wireless transceiver, it may be a WiFi transceiver (IEEE 802.11)that communicates with one or more wireless access points of thehealthcare facility network 68. Alternatively, transceiver 66 may beimplemented as a wireless ZigBee transceiver (IEEE 802.15.4) or awireless Bluetooth transceiver (IEEE 802.15.1). Still other types oftransceivers may be used. In still other embodiments, transceiver 66 maybe adapted to communicate with a headwall structure that forwardsmessages received from patient support apparatus 20 to server 72. Onesuch suitable headwall structure is disclosed in commonly assigned U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/819,844 issued Aug. 6, 2015, by inventorsKrishna Bhimavarapu et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSES WITHWIRELESS HEADWALL COMMUNICATION, the complete disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference.

FIG. 3 illustrates in greater detail one embodiment of a servicingsystem 70 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.Servicing system 70 is implemented in a healthcare facility 82 and incommunication with both a service center 84 and a manufacturing entity86 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3. Servicing system 70 may beimplemented in other manners from what is shown in FIG. 3. For example,in some embodiments, servicing system 70 includes more than one servicecenter 84. In other embodiments, servicing system 70 does notcommunicate with manufacturing entity 86. In still other embodiments,servicing system 70 is located entirely within healthcare facility 82and does not utilize any external computing resources. Still othervariations are possible.

The portion of servicing system 70 located within healthcare facility 82includes one or more patient support apparatuses 20, a patient supportapparatus server 72, a conventional Admission, Discharge, and Transfer(ADT) server 74, and an inventory control server 76. In someembodiments, computer network 68 may also include a location and/ortracking server 78. Although FIG. 3 illustrates servers 72, 74, 76, and78 as hardware servers, this is merely illustrative of one manner ofembodying servers 72, 74, 76, and/or 78. In other embodiments, one ormore of servers 72, 74, 76, and 78 are software servers. Further, whenimplemented as software servers, one or more of the software servers mayoperate on a common piece of server hardware, or they may operate onseparate hardware servers.

Regardless of whether they are implemented as hardware or softwareservers, servers 72, 74, 76, and 78 are part of healthcare facilitycomputer network 68. Patient support apparatuses 20 communicate withpatient support apparatus server 72 via transceiver 66. Communicationsreceived from patient support apparatuses 20 by patient supportapparatus server 72 are forwarded, as appropriate, to one or more otherservers on computer network 68, or to other devices, as will bedescribed in more detail below.

Healthcare facility computer network 68 is in communication with theInternet 80 (FIG. 3). This communication enables patient supportapparatus server 72 (as well as the other servers of computer network68) to communicate with field service center 84 and manufacturing entity86. Field service center 84 comprises one or more geographic locationswhere service personnel associated with patient support apparatuses 20are located, and/or where components used to service patient supportapparatus 20 are located. Manufacturing entity 86 corresponds to alocation associated with the manufacturer of patient support apparatuses20 and may particularly be the sales/service department of themanufacturer of patient support apparatuses 20.

Inside of healthcare facility 82, one or more computers 88 and/or one ormore smart phone 90 are in communication with computer network 68. Suchcommunications may take place in any conventional manner, such as, butnot limited to, WiFi connections between the network 68 and each of thecomputers 88 and smart phones 90. The connections between network 68 andeach of computers 88 and smart phones 90 enables the users of computers88 and smart phones 90 to communicate with patient support apparatusserver 72. As noted, patient support apparatus server 72 communicateswith patient support apparatuses 20 and receives and transmits dataregarding the servicing of patient support apparatuses 20. As will bediscussed in greater detail below, in addition to gathering service datafrom the patient support apparatuses 20, patient support apparatusserver 72 also communicates with other servers on computer network 68(e.g. 74, 76, and/or 78) as well as one or more computers 88 and/orsmart phones 90, thereby allowing users of computers 88 and smart phones90 to receive service data from server 72 and to send service dataand/or commands to server 72.

Patient support apparatus server 72 is further configured to communicatewith one or more remote smart phones 92 and/or remote computers 94 thatare located outside of healthcare facility 82. Such remote computers 94and smart phones 92 may be located at service center 84, manufacturingentity 86, and/or at any other locations having Internet access thatenables these devices to communicate with patient support apparatusserver 72. As shown in FIG. 3, in some instances, the computer 94 thatcommunicates remotely with patient support apparatus server 72 may becoupled to one or more intermediary servers 96. Such intermediaryservers 96 act as conduits for passing messages back and forth betweenserver 72 and the computer(s) 94. In one embodiment, intermediary server96 is an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) server.

In general, servicing system 70 operates to perform one or more of thefollowing functions: monitor the use of patient support apparatuses 20and determine when one or more service events associated with one ormore patient support apparatuses 20 occur; provide notifications toappropriate personnel when such a service event occurs; assess apriority level of the service events; reduce the functionality of one ormore patient support apparatuses 20 in response to a service event thathas a high priority level (or in response to other data regarding theservice event); cause the patient support apparatuses 20 to display amessage, or other information, on display(s) 58 regarding the servicingevent; schedule times for servicing of the patient support apparatuses20 to occur; schedule an order in which multiple patient supportapparatuses 20 are to be serviced during a service visit; check theavailability of one or more replacement parts at one or more locations;order one or more replacement parts, if needed; and/or share servicinginformation with users positioned remotely from hospital and/or outsideof the rooms in which the patient support apparatuses 20 are currentlylocated (via computers 88, 94 and/or smart phones 90, 92). Still otherfunctions may be carried out as described in more detail below.

FIGS. 4A-4I illustrate in greater detail one example of a flow diagramfor servicing method 98 that may be carried out by servicing system 70.It will be understood that although the flow diagram of FIGS. 4A-4Iillustrates only one illustrative embodiment of servicing method 98,flow method 98 may be varied from the specific steps set forth in thesefigures. Thus, the embodiment shown in these figures can be modified toinclude any subset of the steps shown therein, and/or to include one ormore additional and/or alternative steps.

Servicing method 98 begins at a start step 100 (FIG. 4A). Commencementof servicing method 98 may begin automatically in response to a patientsupport apparatus 20 being turned on (i.e. plugged into a source ofelectrical energy or operating under battery power), a switch or othercontrol being activated on patient support apparatus 20, and/or it maybegin automatically in response to patient support apparatus server 72executing appropriately programmed software for carrying out thefunctions described herein. In other embodiments, either or both ofthese devices (patient support apparatus 20 and patient supportapparatus server 72) may be configured to allow a user to start or stopservicing method 98 as desired by an authorized user. Indeed, in someembodiments, system 70 can be configured to operate in conjunction withall, or any user-selected subset, of the patient support apparatuses 20at a particular healthcare facility, or group of healthcare facilities82.

After commencing at step 100, method 98 proceeds to a service eventdetection step 102 (FIG. 4A). Service event detection step 102 iscarried out by each controller 52 on board each patient supportapparatus 20, in some embodiments. In other embodiments, service eventdetection step 102 is carried out by server 72 based upon datatransmitted thereto from the one or more patient support apparatuses 20.In still other embodiments, service event detection step 102 is carriedout partially by controllers 52 and partially by server 72.

Controller 52 and/or server 72 carry out service event detection step102 by monitoring one or more conditions or triggers to determinewhether a service event has transpired. In the illustrated embodiment,there are five potential triggers that are monitored by controller 52and/or server 72. These triggers include periodic preventativemaintenance 104, severe usage 106, the meeting or exceeding of acyclical usage threshold 108, self-diagnosis of a problem 110, and userinitiation 112.

Controller 52 and/or server 72 monitor the periodic maintenance trigger104 by monitoring the passage of time (e.g. via clock 60) and comparingthe amount of time passed to a service schedule that is stored in memoryaccessible to controller 52 and/or server 72. The memory in which theservice schedule is stored is positioned on-board patient supportapparatus 20 in some embodiments. In other embodiments, the memory isincluded within server 72, while in still other embodiments, the serviceschedule is stored in multiple locations, or portions of it are storedon server 72 while other portions of it are stored on patient supportapparatus(es) 20. In some embodiments, the service schedule is saved andstored on the memory of patient support apparatus 20 during themanufacture of patient support apparatus 20. In such embodiments, theservice schedule may be different for each different type of patientsupport apparatus 20. In other embodiments, the service schedule isdownloaded onto server 72 from one of the computers maintained at aservice center 84 and/or the manufacturing entity 86. In still otherembodiments, the service schedule is a dynamic service schedule thatchanges based upon data collected by one or more service centers 84and/or by the manufacturer of the patient support apparatuses 20. Whensuch dynamic service schedules are used, any updated service schedulesmay be communicated to server 72 using its Internet connection (or donelocally at the healthcare facility 82) and the connection of servicecenter 84 and/or manufacturing entity 86 to the Internet 80. Suchdynamic service schedules are discussed more below with respect to FIG.4C.

Wherever stored, and regardless of whether it is static or dynamic, theservice schedule includes the recommended amount of time betweenservicing each of the components and/or systems of patient supportapparatus that should receiving periodic maintenance. Such servicing mayinclude lubricating one or more moving components of patient supportapparatus 20, calibrating and/or re-testing of one or more sensors orother components (e.g. the load cells of exit detection 62), replacingone or more wear components, and/or other items. In addition to theservice schedule, controller 52 and/or server 72 stores data indicatingthe last time each task listed on the service schedule was performed.Controller 52 and/or server 72 first determines the amount of time thathas passed since the last performance of each task on the serviceschedule and compares that amount of time to the recommended amount oftime in the service schedule for each of these tasks. If the recommendedinterval between servicing has been exceeded for one or more components,controller 52 and/or server 72 determines at step 100 that a servicingevent has occurred and proceeds to step 114.

Controller 52 and/or server 72 monitor the presence or absence of asevere usage trigger 106 by keeping track of the loads that are appliedto one or more components of the patient support apparatus 20 andcomparing them to one or more thresholds. Such thresholds may be storedand updated in the same manner as the service schedule discussed above.Indeed, in some embodiments, these threshold are stored as part of theservice schedule. The loads that controller 52 and/or server 72 monitorinclude a number of different loads, such as, but not limited to, thetotal weight supported on patient support apparatus 20 (as detected byload cells 64), the amount of current drawn by each of the variousmotors of patient support apparatus, and/or other items that areindicative of how hard one or more components are, and/or have been,driven. If controller 52 and/or server 72 detects that any component hasbeen driven harder than the corresponding threshold, controller 52and/or server 72 determine at step 102 that a servicing event hasoccurred and they proceed to step 114.

Controller 52 and/or server 72 monitor the presence or absence of acycle threshold trigger 108 by keeping track of the cycles that eachmoving component and/or electrically powered function of patient supportapparatus 20 experiences. For example, controller 52 and/or server 72keeps track of how many times the lifts 26 of patient support apparatus20 are activated; how many times the motors are activated that controlthe pivoting of the various sections of deck 30 (e.g. head section 42,seat section 44, thigh section 46, and/or foot section 48); how manytimes the exit detection function of system 62 is activated and/ordetects an exit; how many times a weight reading is taken using thescale function of system 62; and/or how many times one or more othercomponents or functions are used or activated. Controller 52 and/orserver 72 compares the number of cycles for each of these actions withcorresponding thresholds contained within the service schedule. Thesecyclical thresholds are different from the thresholds used for serverusage trigger 106 discussed above. If the cyclical usage of one or moreof these components or functions exceeds the corresponding cyclicalthreshold, controller 52 and/or server 72 determines that a serviceevent has occurred and proceeds to step 114.

Controller 52 and/or server 72 monitor the presence or absence of aself-diagnosed trigger 110 by monitoring software (located onboardpatient support apparatus 20 and/or on server 72) that analyzes theoutputs from one or more components of patient support apparatus 20.Such software may be conventional self-diagnostic software, or it may becustom designed software that uses the outputs from one or more sensorson board patient support apparatus 20 to determine the absence orpresence of a problem or failure with one or more components of patientsupport apparatus 20. Such sensors include, but are not limited to,electrical current sensors, voltage sensors, motion encoders,temperature sensors, and the like. If the self-diagnostic softwaredetects a problem or failure with one or more components, controller 52and/or server 72 determine that a service event has occurred and proceedto step 114. An indicator, such as a light, a sound, or a display of animage on a screen, may be triggered by controller 52 when such a problemor failure is detected. In some embodiments, the self diagnosis of anerror or service event is detected in any of the manners disclosed incommonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/272,590 filed Sep.22, 2016, by inventors Daniel Brosnan et al. and entitled UNIVERSALCALIBRATION SYSTEM, the complete disclosure of which is incorporatedherein by reference.

Controller 52 and/or server 72 monitors the presence or absence of auser-initiated service trigger 112 by monitoring user interface 56 onboard patient support apparatus 20 and/or any other user interfaces thatare able to communicate with controller 52 and/or server 72 (e.g.computers 88, 94 and/or smart phones 90, 92; FIG. 3). At least one ofsuch user interfaces includes a control that allows an authorized userto request that one or more components or systems of the patient supportapparatus 20 be serviced. In some embodiments, the user interface alsoallows the user to indicate a priority level of the desired servicing.Controller 52 and/or 72, in response to receiving such a user initiatedrequest, proceeds to step 114.

At step 114 (FIG. 4A), controller 52 and/or server 72 communicates theexistence of the detected service event (at step 102), as well asinformation regarding the type of service event and the cause of theservice event, to a network server. If controller 52 is reporting theservice event, the network server it reports the service event to isserver 72. It does this by sending a message to server 72 indicatingthat a service event has occurred. If server 72 is reporting the event,the network server it reports the event to is one or more of thecomputers or servers located at service center 84 and/or manufacturingentity 86 (e.g. computers 88 or 94, or server 96). Server 72 reportsthis by sending a message to the one or more computers at service center84 and/or manufacturing entity 86.

As shown more clearly in FIG. 4B, the reporting of the service event mayoccur via a wired connection 116 or a wireless connection 118. As notedpreviously, wired connection 116 may be implemented as an RS-232 cable,a conventional 37-pin cable of the type commonly used in hospitals, asan Ethernet cable, a USB cable, or still other types of cables, as shownin box 120. Also as noted previously, wireless connection 118 may beimplemented as a WiFi connection, a ZigBee connection, a Bluetoothconnection, and/or a cellular connection, as shown by box 122.

As is also shown in FIG. 4B and was previously discussed, the reportingof the service event may be directed to a remote server (e.g. a cloudbased server) such as intermediary server 96 or a server associated withservice center 84, or it may be directed to an on-premises server, suchas patient support apparatus server 72.

From step 114, control proceeds to update step 124 (FIG. 4C). Updatestep 124 is carried out by the on-premise server 72 or by an off-premiseserver (such as, but not limited to, intermediary server 96). Updatestep 124 involves checking to ensure that the criteria for determiningthe service event are up to date. This is performed by comparing theservice event data transmitted at step 114 to the latest serviceschedule data for that type of event. Thus, for example, if the servicedata transmitted at step 114 relates to a motor on board patient supportapparatus 20 being activated more than X number of times (e.g. acyclical trigger 108), update step 124 checks to see if the threshold Xis the latest threshold for evaluating the service needs of thatparticular motor. Update step 124 is thus used when the servicescheduling for a patient support apparatus 20 is based upon a dynamicservice schedule. In some embodiments, servicing method 98 may operatewithout dynamic service schedules, in which case step 124 may beomitted.

Update step 124 is performed by communicating with intermediary server96 to see if the manufacturer of patient support apparatus 20 haschanged its recommended service schedule for the particular component(s)that were responsible for the service event detected at step 102. Themanufacturing entity 86 initially sets the recommended servicethresholds of the service schedule for the patient support apparatuses20 and may, on occasion, make changes to those schedules based uponservicing trends, recalls, failures, or other information available tothe manufacturing entity. In other embodiments, one or more servicecenters 84 may be authorized by the manufacturing entity 86 to makechanges to the service schedule. In these situations, update step 124 isperformed by receiving updated service scheduling data (via the Internet80) from a computer or server associated with the authorized servicecenter 84. Still further, in some embodiments, healthcare facility 82 isallowed to make changes to the service schedule. In such embodiments,update step 124 is performed by communicating with a designatedhealthcare server, such as server 76.

As shown in FIG. 4C, the updated service schedule information may beperformed periodically, such as indicated by box 126, or it may beperformed episodically, such as represented by box 128. When performedperiodically, server 72 and/or an off-premises server make repetitiveinquiries at predesignated intervals regarding whether the serviceschedule for the models of patient support apparatuses 20 that arelocated within healthcare facility 82 are up to date or not. Whenperformed episodically, server 72 and/or the off-premises server makesinquiries regarding updated service schedule information in response toa service event being detected at step 102. That is, rather thanperforming repeated updates at regular intervals, the episodic updatingoccurs whenever a service event is detected.

After the completion of step 124, control proceeds to step 130 whereon-premise server 72 and/or an off-premise server compares the serviceevent data to the updated service schedule data to determine if a trueservicing event has been detected. In other words, step 130 is similarto step 102 with the exception that step 130 ensures that the latestservice schedule data is being used to determine the existence of aservice event (while step 102 may, in some cases, utilize outdatedservice scheduling data).

In some embodiments, one or more authorized individuals associated withhealthcare facility 82 may be allowed to customize the servicescheduling data used by servicing system 70. That is, instead of, or inaddition to, relying upon the service schedule developed by themanufacturer of patient support apparatuses 20 or one or more of itscomponents, servicing system 70 can be modified to allow the healthcarefacility 82 to create and/or adjust their own servicing schedule. Insuch instances, authorized representatives of the healthcare facilityforward their own customized service schedule data to server 72 usingone or more of the on-premise computers 88 and/or smart phones 90.Servicing method 98 then uses the customized service schedule data atsteps 102 and/or 130. Further, in some embodiments, servicing method 98may use a combination of both manufacturer-supplied service scheduledata and healthcare facility-supplied service schedule data.

After the completion of step 130, control proceeds to step 132 wherepatient support apparatus server 72 (or an off-premise server, or thepatient support apparatus 20 itself) determines the location of thepatient support apparatus 20 experiencing the service event (FIG. 4C).This location determination is performed in one of two differentmanners. In a first manner, which is represented by box 134 (FIG. 4D),the location of patient support apparatus 20 is determined using aconventional Real-Time Locating Service (RTLS). In some embodiments, theRTLS uses asset tags that are attached to, among other things, patientsupport apparatuses 20. The asset tags may be RF ID tags, or other typesof tags, which include unique identifiers. Transceivers positionedaround the healthcare facility at known locations communicate with theasset tags and determine the locations of the assets (e.g. patientsupport apparatuses 20) to which the tags are attached. This locationinformation is reported to location server 78. Location server 78forwards this information to patient support apparatus server 72.Patient support apparatus server 72 is therefore informed of theposition of each of the patient support apparatuses 20 in healthcarefacility 82. Patient support apparatus server 72 receives a uniqueidentifier from each patient support apparatus 20 for which a serviceevent is detected and uses this unique identifier to correlate thelocation information received from location server 78. In someembodiments, the unique identifier is the same used by the RTLS system,while in other embodiments, server 72 includes a data table, or otherdata structure, that maps the identifiers received from the patientsupport apparatuses 20 via wired or wireless connections 116 or 118 withthe identifiers received from location server 78.

In an alternative manner represented by box 136 (FIG. 4D), the locationof each patient support apparatus 20 is determined by a locationdetection system that is specifically tailored to patient supportapparatuses. Examples of such location detection systems are disclosedin commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 8,319,633 filed by Becker et al. andentitled LOCATION DETECTION SYSTEM FOR A PATIENT HANDLING DEVICE, thecomplete disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.Other types of location detection systems may also be used, such as, butnot limited to, those disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/578,630 filed Dec. 22, 2014, by inventorsRichard Derenne et al. and entitled VIDEO MONITORING SYSTEM, thecomplete disclosure of which is also incorporated herein by reference.Still other types of location systems may also be used for identifyingthe location of each patient support apparatus 20 for which a serviceevent has been detected.

After the location of the patient support apparatus 20 experiencing theservice event has been determined using either the RTLS method of box134 or the custom method of box 136, method 98 proceeds to step 138where controller 52 and/or server 72 determines how to integrate theservice event into the work flow at healthcare facility 82. Morespecifically, controller 52 and/or server 72 determines at step 138whether the priority of the service event detected at step 102 should bedetermined automatically based upon preconfigured rules and programming,or manually based upon a user's instructions (FIG. 4D). If the prioritylevel of the service event is to be determined automatically, method 98proceeds to step 140. In the embodiment of method 98 shown in FIG. 4D,five different priority levels are used (1-5) that are treated in threedifferent manners. This is merely illustrative and it will be understoodthat different numbers of priority levels and manners of treatment maybe used. Any service events at priority levels 1 or 2 are assigned a lowpriority status as indicated by box 142. Any service events at prioritylevels 3 or 4 are assigned a medium priority status as indicated by box144. Further, any service events at priority level 5 are assigned a highpriority status as indicated by box 146.

The priority levels for the various service events may be determined ina variety of different manners. In some embodiments, the priority levelsare determined ahead of time for each of the different service eventsthat are possible and are stored in memory. In such cases the server 72and/or other server accesses this memory, matches the current serviceevent to the corresponding stored service event, and retrieves thepriority level assigned to the current service event. In otherembodiments, the priority levels are determined dynamically based uponone or more parameters that can be adjusted by the user, such as, butnot limited to, the location of the service event, the usage level ofthe patient support apparatuses in the healthcare facility 82, thenumber of patient support apparatuses in the healthcare facility 82, theavailability of replacement patient support apparatuses 20 or componentsthereof, the type of service event, and/or other factors.

Regardless of the manner in which the priority levels are assigned, thehigher priority levels are indicative of a more urgent need to provideservice for the corresponding patient support apparatus 20, while thelower priority levels are indicative of a less urgent need to provideservice. In the example of FIG. 4E, the low priority service levels maycorrespond to service events for which a service call should be placedwithin the next six months, such as is shown in box 150. The specificamount of time can vary and, in some embodiments, is configurable byhealthcare personnel via patient support apparatus server 72. Generallyspeaking, these low priority service levels relate to service eventsthat are unlikely to impact any safety features or functional aspects ofthe patient support apparatus within the near term. Accordingly, usageof the patient support apparatus 20 can continue until the servicingevent is addressed.

The medium priority levels correspond to service events that, in theembodiment of FIG. 4E, may reduce the functionality of patient supportapparatus 20, but are not expected to pose a safety risk to patients orcaregivers. In such cases, further use of the patient support apparatus20 until it is serviced is not recommended due to the potential reducedfunctionality, but such usage may continue at the discretion of thehealthcare facility personnel without compromising safety. In theillustrated embodiment, the medium priority service levels correspond toservice events for which a service call should be placed within the nexttwo weeks, such as shown in box 152 of FIG. 4E. This time can also varyand is configurable, in some embodiments, by healthcare personnel. Thehigh priority levels correspond to service events that, in theembodiment of FIG. 4E, present safety issues, or other concerns, thatshould prompt a service call immediately.

Regardless of the priority level that is assigned to a service event,each detected service event is added to a service queue at steps 148 a,b, or c. The service queue is stored in memory. In some embodiments, thememory is part of server 72, while in other embodiments the memory isremote from the healthcare facility 82. The service queue may also bestored elsewhere.

For all of the different priority levels of the service events, method98 provides notifications to the patient support apparatus 20 and/or anyand all individuals who have access to server 72, such as authorizedpersonnel who are using computer 88 and/or smart phones 90. Examples ofthe types of notifications are shown in steps 150, 152, and 154. Othernotifications are, of course possible.

In the illustrated embodiment, authorized personnel and/or the patientsupport apparatus 20 that experiences a low priority service event arenotified that service should be performed on that patient supportapparatus sometime within the next six months, as indicated by box 150(FIG. 4E). Patient support apparatus 20 displays a message indicatingthat service should be called in a certain time period, such as sixmonths, in some embodiments. At some point in the future, such as aftera service date has been scheduled, patient support apparatus 20 switchesto displaying a different notice, such as “out of service in two weeks.”The specific message that is displayed, of course, varies according tothe scheduled date of service.

Authorized personnel and/or the patient support apparatus 20 thatexperiences a medium priority service event are notified that thepatient support apparatus 20 should not be used and/or that it may havelimited functionality, such as shown by box 158. In some embodiments,the patient support apparatus 20 displays a message, such as “callservice within two weeks,” or the like, as indicated by box 152.Authorized personnel and/or the patient support apparatus 20 thatexperiences a high priority service event are notified that the patientsupport apparatus should not be used and is immediately going out ofservice, such as shown by box 160. In some embodiments, the patientsupport apparatus 20 displays a message, such as “call serviceimmediately,” or the like, as indicated by box 154. The actualnotifications that are provided to the patient support apparatus 20 andauthorized personnel are discussed in more detail below with respect toFIGS. 4G and 4F.

In some embodiments, the determination of the priority level of aservice event is not done automatically. Instead, data about the serviceevent is made available to one or more authorized users of servicingsystem 70 and the users manually determine what priority level to assignto the service event. This is indicated by box 162 of method 98 (FIG.4D). The manual determination of the priority level of a servicing eventmay be done locally at the patient support apparatus 20, such asindicated by box 164, or it may be done remotely (such as via a smartphone 90 and/or computer 88), such as indicated by box 166.

Regardless of whether or not the priority level of a service event isdetermined locally or remotely, or automatically or manually, theservice events are added to a queue and service is called for at step168 (FIG. 4E) if the number of items in the queue exceeds apredetermined threshold. In the illustrated embodiment, the threshold isshown as being five, although it will be understood that this number mayvary and that, in at least some embodiments, system 70 is configurableby authorized individuals of the healthcare facility 82 to custom tailorthis threshold to whatever number they desire.

In some embodiments, prior to an actual service ticket being generatedin response to the service queue reaching the corresponding threshold atstep 168, method 98 seeks confirmation from an authorized professional,such as is indicated by box 170 of FIG. 4E. The authorized professionalmay be located at healthcare facility 82, service center 84, or at themanufacturing entity 86 that manufactured patient support apparatus 20.System 70 is configurable by the healthcare facility 82 to choose whichauthorized professionals to contact in carrying out the confirmation ofbox 170. Regardless of which authorized professional does perform thisconfirmation process, the actual process involves examining the serviceevents in the queue, including any data that accompanies the serviceevents, and deciding whether the service events and corresponding datapresent circumstances that indeed warrant a service ticket beinggenerated.

As an alternative to the confirmation process of box 170, method 98 maybe implemented such that the generation of service tickets occursautomatically without the need for any confirmation. Thisauto-generation without confirmation is illustrated by box 172 of FIG.4E.

System 70 generates a service ticket at step 174. After generating theservice ticket, method 98 proceeds to four different tasks: a productnotification task 176 (FIG. 4G), a user notification task 178 (FIG. 4F),an inventory assessment task 180 (FIG. 4H), and a logistical preparationtask 182 (FIG. 4H). The product notification task 176 begins with server72 sending one or more messages to the patient support apparatuses 20that relate to the different priority levels assigned to the serviceevent. These messages electronically mark (i.e. designate) the patientsupport apparatuses 20 as being in need for service.

As one example, if a patient support apparatus 20 has experienced a lowpriority event, server 72 sends a notification message at step 184 tothe patient support apparatus 20 that marks it as being in need of lowpriority service. As a result of being in this need-for-service state,controller 52 of the patient support apparatus 20 displays a message ondisplay 58 and/or provides other aural or visual indications to the userthat the patient support apparatus 20 has been designated as being inneed of low priority service. The message is displayed at step 186 andindicates, for example, that “this patient support apparatus is goingout of service in two weeks” or that “this patient support apparatus isscheduled for service and should not be used for a prolonged timeperiod.”

If the patient support apparatus 20 has experienced a medium priorityevent, server 72 sends a notification message at step 188 (FIG. 4G) tothe patient support apparatus 20 that marks it as being in need ofmedium priority service. As a result of being in this need-for-servicestate, controller 52 displays a message on display 58, such as, “thispatient support apparatus is in need of service and should not be used”or “this patient support apparatus has limited functionality due toservicing needs.” In some embodiments of patient support apparatus 20,controller 52 automatically limits the functionality of patient supportapparatus 20 in response to the medium priority service event. Suchautomatic limiting of the functionality may include eliminating thecontrols for one or more features or functions of patient supportapparatus 20. For example, if the medium priority service event relatesto an error in the scale portion of the exit detection/scale system 62,controller 52 is adapted to no longer display the control or controlsthat enable a user to take weight readings. Alternatively, controller 52continues to display the controls, but includes some type of indicationthat they are not currently available, such as, but not limited to,displaying the controls in a faded or “ghosted” fashion.

For high priority service events, server 72 sends a message at step 192to the patient support apparatus 20 that marks it as being in need ofhigh priority service. As a result of being in this need-for-servicestate, controller 52 displays a message at step 194 indicating that thepatient support apparatus 20 should not be used and/or that it may beunsafe to use the patient support apparatus 20. Further, in someembodiments, the patient support apparatuses 20 that receive a highpriority service message from server 72 are programmed to automaticallymove themselves to an unusable configuration so as to discourage and/orprevent healthcare personnel from using the patient support apparatuses20 until they are serviced. The unusable configuration may remain untilservice personnel and/or server 72 sends a message to the patientsupport apparatus prior to service, activates a control on the patientsupport apparatus 20, or takes some action to terminate the unusableconfiguration. In some embodiments, patient support apparatus 20automatically terminates the unusable configuration a set amount of timeprior to the service date and/or service time.

The unusable configuration can vary. In some embodiments, the unusableconfiguration includes pivoting head section 42 to a nearly verticalorientation while also pivoting foot and/or thigh section 48 and 46 intoangular positions that, in combination with the upright head section 42,make it extremely uncomfortable and/or impossible for a patient to lieor sit on the patient support apparatus 20. Once in the unusableconfiguration, it remains locked until terminated by a servicetechnician, or other authorized user. In some embodiments, the lockinginvolves terminating the operation of one or more motors.

In some embodiments, patient support apparatuses 20 are configured toautomatically move to an unusable configuration only if the patientsupport apparatus 20 does not detect the presence of a patient onpatient support apparatus 20. Detecting the presence or absence of apatient on patient support apparatus 20 can be automaticallyaccomplished, in some embodiments, by analyzing the outputs of exitdetection/scale system 62. In other embodiments, such automaticdetection can be accomplished through one or more of the methodsdisclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/928,513 filed Oct. 30, 2015, by inventors Richard Derenne et al. andentitled PERSON SUPPORT APPARATUSES WITH PATIENT MOBILITY MONITORING,the complete disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein byreference. In still other embodiments, the detection of a patient'spresence or absence can be accomplished through a video or infraredsystem, such as that disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/578,630 filed Dec. 22, 2014, by inventorsRichard Derenne et al. and entitled VIDEO MONITORING SYSTEM, andcommonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/692,871 filed Apr.22, 2015, by inventors Marko Kostic et al. and entitled PERSON SUPPORTAPPARATUS WITH POSITION MONITORING, the complete disclosures of both ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference.

In some embodiments of patient support apparatuses 20, the patientsupport apparatuses are configured to display the messages associatedwith steps 186, 190, and 194 whenever a user operates, or attempts tooperate, a feature or component of the patient support apparatus 20.Thus, for example, if a user attempts to lower a height of support deck30 on a patient support apparatus that has been marked for service dueto a low priority service event, controller 52 is configured to displaya message, such as “out of service in two weeks” on display 58 when theuser makes such an attempt. This provides a reminder to the user thatthe patient support apparatus 20 is due for service. Such a message isdisplayed automatically in some embodiments even if the user isattempting to use a control that is unrelated to the service event. Forexample, if the service event relates to the servicing of a motor usedto drive the patient support apparatus 20 to different locations withinhealthcare facility 82, controller 52 displays the service message inresponse to the user activating controls that are unrelated to thatmotor, such as, but not limited to, controls used to control the exitdetection/scale system 62, controls used to move the deck 30, controlsused for controlling lifts 26, and/or controls used to input or editpatient information.

Further, controller 52 keeps track of the time that has passed since theservice event occurred and adjusts the message based upon the passage oftime. As a result, for example, if a user attempts to use the samepatient support apparatus 20 a week after the low priority service eventoccurred, the message will indicate “out for service in one week.” Thismessage therefore gives the user an indication of how long they canstill use the patient support apparatus 20 before it is scheduled to beout of service.

Controller 52 is also programmed, in some embodiments, to not onlyupdate the message displayed based upon the passage of time, but to alsotake one or more additional or alternative actions in response to thepassage of time. For example, controller 52 is programmed in someembodiments to repetitively calculate how far away the service date isfrom the current date (and/or time) and to make one or more changes tothe patient support apparatus 20 when the service date falls within auser-configurable time window. Such changes may include intentionallylimiting the functionality of one or more components or systems of thepatient support apparatus 20 in order to discourage users from selectingpatient support apparatus 20 for usage as the service date approaches.

As one illustrative example, if service was scheduled to occur in oneweek, during the first six days after the service was scheduled,controller 52 may allow a user full access to control and use patientsupport apparatus. However, the day before service is scheduled (or someother time window), controller 52 may be programmed to stop providingpower to a driven wheel used to propel the patient support apparatus 20to different locations, or to reduce the power supplied to the drivenwheel. This limits the functionality of the patient support apparatus 20and makes it less desirable to use, thereby encouraging users to selecta different patient support apparatus 20 for use as the service dateapproaches. By placing this time window close to the expected orscheduled service date, the likelihood of the patient support apparatus20 not being used on the scheduled service day increases. Thisfacilitates the ability of the service technician to perform therequired servicing on the scheduled service day.

In some embodiments of patient support apparatuses, the time window atwhich the reduced functionality of patient support apparatus 20 occursis configurable by authorized personnel of healthcare facility 82. Inaddition, the specific functionality that is limited is alsoconfigurable by authorized personnel of healthcare facility in someembodiments. These user configurations may be set by entering a passcodeeither at user interface 56 and entering the desired configuration datadirectly onto patient support apparatus 20 or by entering a passcodeusing computer 88 and/or smart phone 90 and forwarding the configurationdata to server 72, which then forwards it to the appropriate patientsupport apparatus 20. The user interface is also adapted, in someembodiments, to allow a user to manually mark a patient supportapparatus 20 as being in need of service, as being available for service(e.g. in a proper service location, not currently being used by apatient, etc.), and/or as being in a ready-for-use state (such as afterservicing by a technician). Such manual changing of the service state ofthe patient support apparatus 20 require entering the correct passcode,in at least some embodiments, in order to prevent unauthorized changesto the servicing schedule of the patient support apparatus 20.

In some embodiments, patient support apparatuses 20 that have beenmarked for service only display a service message when a user attemptsto assign a new patient to the patient support apparatus 20. Forexample, some patient support apparatuses 20 include a user interface 56that allows a caregiver to enter the name and/or other informationregarding a new patient assigned to the patient support apparatus 20. Insuch instances, controller 52 may be configured to display a serviceevent message when a caregiver attempts to assign a new patient topatient support apparatus 20. This gives the caregiver notice as towhether or not it makes sense to proceed forward with the use of thatparticular patient support apparatus 20. If the service event is a highpriority event, patient support apparatus 20 is configured in someembodiments to disallow the assigning of patient support apparatus 20 toa new patient until patient support apparatus 20 is serviced.

In still other embodiments, patient support apparatuses 20 that havebeen marked for service are configured to display information regardingtheir service event, such as a time frame for when servicing is to beexpected or scheduled, in response to a user requesting such informationvia user interface 56. For example, user interface 56 may include anicon, menu item, or other selection feature that, when activated,displays when the next servicing date is anticipated or scheduled. Theinformation may also include information about the service event thatgenerated the servicing date and/or the prior history of servicingevents and dates of service.

As noted, in some embodiments, the anticipated servicing of a patientsupport apparatus 20 is determined by patient support apparatus server72. In such embodiments, patient support apparatus server 72 sends oneor more messages to the corresponding patient support apparatus 20indicating when the anticipated servicing will happen, and/or whatinformation to display regarding the service event. When the serviceevent is a high priority service event, patient support apparatus server72 sends a command to the patient support apparatus 20 instructing thepatient support apparatus 20 to move to an unusable configuration. Inother embodiments, patient support apparatus 20 may be configured todetermine the priority level of a service event by itself, in which caseit does not receive any instructions regarding what message to displayand/or whether or not to move to an unusable configuration. Further, asnoted previously, the movement of the patient support apparatus 20 to anunusable configuration may be delayed until control system 50 determinesthat the patient support apparatus 20 is not occupied.

In some embodiments, the scheduling of a service date for a patientsupport apparatus 20 is accompanied by a message transmittedautomatically to ADT server 74. The message tells ADT server 74 of theupcoming service date and when to no longer assign patients to thisparticular patient support apparatus 20.

In addition to the product notification task 176 illustrated in FIG. 4G,method 98 also carries out a user notification task 178 that is shown inmore detail in FIG. 4F. User notification task 178 involves providingvarious notifications to a number of different types of individuals,such as, but not limited to, biomedical technicians or engineers,transportation personnel, caregivers (nurses or doctors), servicetechnicians, and sales personnel. The various notifications are carriedout automatically by system 70 based upon preprogrammed settings by theuser. Such preprogrammed settings include the email addresses, phonenumbers, and/or other contact information for each of the differentindividuals, or classes of individuals, who are to be contacted whencarrying out notification task 178.

System 70 contacts one or more biomedical engineers or technicians atstep 196 (FIG. 4F). The contact includes instructions to the biomedicalengineers or technicians to move the patient support apparatus 20experiencing the service event to a repair location, such as indicatedby box 198. In some embodiments, the instruction to move the patientsupport apparatus 20 include a deadline for carrying out this movementthat is based upon the priority level of the service event. Once suchmovement is carried out, the biomedical engineer or technician respondswith a message (via computer 88 and/or smart phone 90) confirming thatthe patient support apparatus has been moved and is now available forservicing, as indicated by box 200. Alternatively, the engineer ortechnician may enter a required passcode through user interface 56 andmark the patient support apparatus 20 as being in anavailable-for-service state. Controller 52 responds to such a manualentry by forwarding a message to server 72 indicating that the patientsupport apparatus 20 is now available to be serviced. As yet anotheralternative, movement of the patient support apparatus to a repairlocation may be detected automatically by location server 78.

System 70 also contacts one or more transport personnel at step 202 if apatient is currently assigned to the patient support apparatus 20experiencing a service event. This contact includes instructions to movethe patient currently assigned to the marked for service patient supportapparatus 20 to a different patient support apparatus 20 that has notbeen marked for service (or one that has been marked with a lowerpriority service level or one that has been scheduled for service at alater date), as indicated by box 204. System 70 make this contact inorder to ensure that the patient assigned to the patient supportapparatus 20 is moved to another patient support apparatus 20 beforeservicing is scheduled. In some embodiments, server 72 determines if apatient is currently assigned to a marked for service patient supportapparatus 20 by communicating with ADT server 74. ADT server 74 storesinformation regarding the patients in healthcare facility 82, includingwhat patient support apparatuses 20 each patient is assigned to. Inother embodiments, other means may be used to determine if a patient iscurrently assigned to the patient support apparatus 20.

As an alternative to, or in addition to, step 202, system 70 isconfigured to contact one or more caregivers (such as nurses) assignedto the patient currently occupying the marked for service patientsupport apparatus 20 at step 206 of FIG. 4F. System 70 performs thisstep in addition to step 202 in some embodiments in order to ensure thateither a transport person or a caregiver moves the patient to adifferent patient support apparatus. In other embodiments, healthcarefacility 82 may not include personnel dedicated to transportingpatients, so step 202 may be omitted and replaced with step 206. Instill other embodiments, step 206 may be omitted and the transfer of apatient to a different patient support apparatus 20 may be accomplishedvia step 202. In any of these embodiments, the result is the transfer ofthe patient to a different patient support apparatus 20 that is notbeing scheduled for service at the same time as the one currentlyassigned to the patient, as indicated by boxes 204 and 208.

As part of user notification task 178, system 70 also contacts one ormore service personnel at step 210 (FIG. 4F). In some embodiments, thecontacted service personnel include one or more representatives ofmanufacturing entity 86 who work on-site at healthcare facility 82 orwho otherwise frequent healthcare facility 82, as indicated by box 212.Alternatively, or additionally, system 70 makes contact with one or morein-house service personnel who work directly for healthcare facility 82,as indicated by box 214. At yet another alternative or addition, system70 makes contact with one or more personnel associated withmanufacturing entity 86 who do not work on site at healthcare facility82, or who otherwise are not associated with healthcare facility 82 andare located remotely therefrom, as indicated by box 216.

After notification of the service personnel at step 210, system 70proceeds to determine, or receive, availability information regardingthe service personnel contacted during step 210. In some cases, thecontacted personnel input their availability into system 70 (viacomputers 88, 94 or via phones 90, 92), while in other cases suchinformation is already made available to system 70. In the latter case,server 72 may be in communication with a computer calendar of thepersonnel that they maintain on their computers 88, 94 and/or phone 90,92. Regardless of how the availability of the contacted servicepersonnel is determined, method 98 proceeds to determine and identifyone or more time slots in which those service personnel are availablefor carrying out the servicing, as indicated by box 218.

As part of user notification task 178, system 70 may also contact one ormore sales personnel at step 220 (FIG. 4F). Such sales personnel areassociated with manufacturing entity 86 and inform the sales personnelof servicing issues that have arisen. This enables the sales personnelto make appropriate contact with the client (healthcare facility 82) inlight of the servicing events and/or sales history, as indicated by box222. Further, such contact helps the sale agent to assist the healthcarefacility 82 with the managements and utilization of the fleet of patientsupport apparatuses 20 used by the healthcare facility 82, as indicatedby box 224.

In addition to the product notification and service personnelnotification tasks 176 and 178 illustrated in FIGS. 4G and 4F, method 98also carries out an inventory assessment task 180 that is shown in moredetail in FIG. 4H. Inventory assessment task 180 involves determining ifone or more replacement parts are needed for carrying out the plannedservicing. Additionally, assessment task 180 determines if any neededparts are currently available at healthcare facility 82 and/or servicecenter 84 and, if not, generates an order for the needed parts.

More specifically, task 180 includes an on-premise inventory assessmentstep 226 in which system 70 checks to see if the needed part(s) arecurrently available in an inventory stored on the premises of healthcarefacility 82. This is accomplished by communicating with inventorycontrol server 76. In addition, task 180 includes a service truckinventory assessment step 228 in which system 70 checks to see if theneeded part(s) are currently available on a service truck that isscheduled to make a delivery at healthcare facility 82. If the part(s)are determined to be available at either step 226 or 228, system 70indicates the availability of the part(s) at step 236. If the parts arenot determined to be available at steps 226 or 228, system 70 executes awarehouse inventory assessment step 230 in which system 70 checks to seeif the needed part(s) are currently available in a warehouse. If theyare available, the needed part(s) are ordered at step 234 from thewarehouse, which may be located at the same location as service center84, or it may be located elsewhere. The arrival of the ordered parts isnoted at step 236.

If the needed part(s) are not currently available on-premise, on aservice truck, or at a warehouse, system 70 orders the needed part(s) atstep 232 from the manufacturer, such as manufacturing entity 86. Theordered parts are shipped at step 234 and system 70 marks the arrival ofthe ordered parts at healthcare facility 82 at step 236 and/or theexpected arrival date.

In addition to the product notification, service personnel notification,and inventory assessment tasks 176, 178, and 180 illustrated in FIGS.4G, 4F, and 4H, method 98 also carries out a logistical preparation task182 (FIG. 4H). Logistical preparation task 182 includes an equipmentassessment step 238 in which system 70 determines when the equipmentneeded to perform the servicing of patient support apparatus 20 (ifneeded) is, or will be, available at healthcare facility 82 and/orservice center 84. If it is not currently available, system 70 ordersthe necessary equipment or automatically contacts appropriate personnelwho can order the necessary equipment. Logistical preparation task 182also includes a room assessment step 240 in which system 70 determineswhen a designated room for servicing patient support apparatus 20 willbe available.

The results of tasks 176, 178, 180, and 182 all feed into asynchronization step 242 (FIG. 4I). At synchronization step 242, system70 determines times when the product notification task 176, usernotification task 178, inventory assessment task 180, and logisticalpreparation task 182 overlap with each other. That is, system 70identifies the dates and/or times when the patient support apparatus 20indicates it will be out of service (as part of task 176), identifiesthe dates and/or times when the patient support apparatus 20 and theappropriate service personnel will be available (as part of task 178),identifies the dates and/or times when the required part(s) (if any)will be available, and also identifies the dates and/or times when theroom and/or equipment used for servicing patient support apparatus 20are or will be available. Based on these four sets of identified times,system 70 identifies the subset of times that are common to all fourtasks and uses those common times to schedule servicing for the patientsupport apparatus 20 at step 242. All parties and/or subsystems that areassociated with the servicing are then notified of the scheduled servicedate (e.g. the service technician, the patient support apparatus 20, thecaregivers, the transport personnel, any room reservation service orprogram, etc.). If the scheduled service date differs from the servicedate that was previously displayed on one or more patient supportapparatuses 20, the patient support apparatuses 20 adjust their messagesand/or actions to correspond to the newly computed service date.

In some embodiments, synchronization step 242 also takes into accountdata regarding the schedule of any patient that is currently assigned toa patient support apparatus 20 that has been marked for service. Suchscheduling data may come from ADT server 74 or from other sources. Thescheduling data provides information about the location of the patientand the scheduling of any procedures or tasks associated with thepatient. For example, the patient may be scheduled to have an X-raytaken at a certain time of day, or to be transferred to a different roomfor some other type of medical procedure. System 70 uses this data insome embodiments when carrying out synchronization step 242. That is,system 70 also takes into account when determining a service date thosetimes when the patient support apparatus 20 may be unoccupied by thepatient due to the patient having a procedure performed at a differentlocation within healthcare facility 82 and/or due to the patient beingdischarged from the healthcare facility.

Steps 244 through 252 of FIG. 4I are performed by system 70 and relateto the determination of which order service calls are to be carried outby a service technician. At step 244, system 70 uses a conventionaltraveling salesman algorithm to determine the order in which he or sheshould provide service to the different healthcare facilities 82 that heor she is responsible for visiting. This algorithm takes into accountthe current location of all of the healthcare facilities 82 assigned tothat particular service technician that have at least the thresholdnumber of patient support apparatuses 20 in their service queue. Ingeneral, the traveling salesman algorithm computes an order ofperforming the patient support apparatus servicing that reduces and/orminimizes the amount of traveling that the service technician needs toundertake in order to provide service to the various healthcarefacilities 82. After this algorithm is completed, messages may be sentto each of the patient support apparatuses 20 scheduled to be serviced,and/or to server 72, that provide a more accurate time window for theexpected service based upon the results of the traveling salesmancalculation.

Once the service technician arrives at a particular healthcare facility82, the service technician proceeds to step 246 where he or she looks upthe patient support apparatuses 20 in the service queue to determinewhich patient support apparatuses 20 need servicing while visiting thatparticular healthcare facility. This step may be accomplished by theservice technician using his or her smart phone or computer andaccessing information stored on server 72, or another component ofsystem 70. The smart phone or table may include an app on it thatincludes a “find next patient support apparatus” function thatautomatically identifies to the salesperson the next patient supportapparatus 20 that is to be serviced by that technician.

When presenting the queue of patient support apparatuses 20 to theservice technician, system 70 automatically displays the queue in theorder of the priority levels, as indicated at step 248 (FIG. 4I). Thepatient support apparatuses 20 having the highest priority are listedfirst and the lowest priority listed last. Additionally, if more thanone patient support apparatus 20 has the same priority level, system 70orders the patient support apparatuses 20 based on those that arenearest to the technician so that he or she can provide service first tothe closest patient support apparatus 20. This ordering may beaccomplished by using the location features of the smart phone (e.g.cellular triangulation and/or WiFi triangulation) or other mobile devicethat is carried by the service technician, and which communicates withserver 72 and/or computer network 68. The location of the servicetechnician is then compared to the location of the various patientsupport apparatuses 20, as determined in any of the manners previouslydescribed. The queue may alternatively be ordered based upon the type ofservice, location, and/or manual preferences of the technician.Authorized personnel can also add to the queue manually at any time,including after a service technician has arrived at the medical facilityand commenced service work.

If, for some reason, a particular patient support apparatus 20 isunavailable at the time the service technician is on-site, service forthat particular patient support apparatus 20 is skipped and remains onthe queue for servicing in the future, as indicated by box 250 of FIG.4I. After all of the available patient support apparatuses 20 have beenserviced by the service technician, those patient support apparatuses 20are marked as being ready-for-use, either manually by the servicetechnician or automatically by system 70. Method 98 then comes to an endat step 252.

In some embodiments, as indicated by step 254 of FIG. 4I, system 70 doesnot provide an order for servicing the patient support apparatuses 20 ata particular healthcare facility 82. Instead, the service technicianmanually searches for and finds the patient support apparatuses 20 thatneed servicing and services them in the order that he or she chooses. Insuch embodiments, after all of the available patient support apparatuses20 are serviced by the technician, method 98 terminates at step 252.

Still further, in some embodiments, system 70 may modify the suggestedorder in which patient support apparatuses 20 are to be serviced basedupon the schedule of any patients that are assigned to those patientsupport apparatuses 20. That is, in some instances, a healthcarefacility 82 may choose to continue to use a patient support apparatus 20that has been scheduled for service up to and through the day at whichthe service has been scheduled, or the patient support apparatus 20 thathas been scheduled for service may otherwise be occupied on the day ofthe scheduled service. In such instances, there may be an opportunityfor the service technician to service the patient support apparatus 20based upon the schedule of the patient. Thus, as mentioned above, system70 may consult ADT server 74 and determine if the patient is scheduledto be away from the patient support apparatus 20 at any point while theservice technician is on site. If so, system 70 notes such times to theservice technician so that the service technician is provided with theopportunity to service patient support apparatuses 20 when they areunoccupied. Alternatively, or additionally, system 70 may request ADTserver 74 assign a substitute patient support apparatus 20 to a patientso that the patient support apparatus 20 needing service can be servicedwithout being assigned to a patient.

It will be understood that, although a large number of specific stepshave been described as part of method 98, any one or more of thespecific steps described herein may be omitted in different embodiments.For example, in some embodiments, method 98 does not undertake all ofthe user notification steps illustrated in FIG. 4F (e.g. steps 196, 202,206, 210, and 220), but instead only executes a subset of thesenotification tasks. In other embodiments, one or more of the tasks 176,178, 180, and/or 182 are omitted, reduced, or supplemented. In stillother embodiments, one or more other modifications may be made.

Further, although most of the description of method 98 provided hereinhas described server 72 as performing the bulk of the steps of method98, it will be understood that any one or more of the tasks describedherein as being performed by server 72 may be performed elsewhere, suchas, but not limited to, by one or more other servers in healthcarefacility 82, onboard the patient support apparatuses 20, on one or moreof the computers 88 or smart phones 90 used in the healthcare facility82, or at any of the computers or servers located outside of thehealthcare facility 82 (e.g. computers 94, server 96, and/or smartphones 92).

It will also be understood that, although system 70 and method 98 havebeen described herein as being applied specifically to patient supportapparatuses 20, they may be modified and applied to any type of medicaldevices or equipment within a healthcare facility. Indeed, in someembodiments, system 70 and method 98 are modified to operate inconjunction with the equipment management system disclosed in commonlyassigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 62/361,221 filed Jul. 12,2016, by inventor David Becker and entitled EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM,the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.When so modified, patient support apparatuses 20 communicate with acloud-based platform that detects and/or monitors service events andperforms the scheduling and coordination tasks described herein.

In some embodiments, the movement of the patient support apparatuses 20to and from their servicing locations is carried out automatically byway of self-driving patient support apparatuses 20, such as thosedisclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/795,193 filed Mar. 12, 2013, by inventors Richard Derenne et al. andentitled POWERED PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS, the complete disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference.

FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative servicing system 370 that is adaptedto be used for monitoring, processing, scheduling, and carrying out theservicing of a fleet of automobiles. System 370 includes a cloud-basedplatform or server 302 that communicates with both a workplace 304 andan automotive company 306. Workplace 304 refers to a place whereservicing of automobiles takes place. Workplace 304 includes one or morecomputers 308 and one or more smart phones 310, both of which are usedby one or more service technicians associated with workplace 304. Smartphones 310 and computers 308 are in communication with server 302 via anInternet connection. Server 302 also communicates with one or moreautomobiles 312 via a cellular network 314. Still further, server 302communicates with one or more automobile owners or users 318 via thesmart phones 316 of the automobile owners.

Automotive company 306 may be an automobile manufacturer and/or anautomotive parts manufacturer or supplier. Automotive company 306includes an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) server 320, one or morecomputers 322 in communication with ERP server 320, and one or moreautomotive company personnel 324.

In operation, system 370 monitors each of the automobiles 312 within thefleet of automobiles that are part of system 370. In some embodiments,the fleet may be a rental car fleet, while in other embodiments thefleet may be comprised of another set of automobiles 312. Theautomobiles report service events that they themselves detect to server302 via cellular network 314, or they report data detected by on-boardsensors that is processed by server 302 to detect service events (or acombination of both). Once a service event is detected, server 302proceeds in the same manner as discussed above with respect to system70. In overview, server 302 coordinates the scheduling of service forthe automobile 312 with the owner or user 318 and the servicetechnicians associated with workplace 304. Server 302 also checks partinventories and/or logistical needs to ensure that parts and/orequipment are available for the required service. The checking of theparts and logistical supplies is performed both with respect to partsand equipment that are maintained at workplace 304 and at automotivecompany 306. Once the calendars of the service technicians andowners/users are examined to find common dates that are available forperforming the servicing, system 70 selects a commonly available datefor scheduling the service that also allows the necessary parts and/orequipment to be available. Depending upon the service priority leveland/or the time until the scheduled service date, reduced functionalityof the automobile 312 may be implemented by system 370. Once the serviceday arrives, service is performed and the automobiles are marked asbeing ready for use (i.e. not in need of service).

In some embodiments, the user and/or owner receives a warning phonecall, text, email, or the like. Further, arrangements for loaners may bemade and/or substitute cars may be transport to replace the cars needingservice. In some cases, the authentication of the substitute car isactivated for the user automatically.

Various additional alterations and changes beyond those alreadymentioned herein can be made to the above-described embodiments. Thisdisclosure is presented for illustrative purposes and should not beinterpreted as an exhaustive description of all embodiments or to limitthe scope of the claims to the specific elements illustrated ordescribed in connection with these embodiments. For example, and withoutlimitation, any individual element(s) of the described embodiments maybe replaced by alternative elements that provide substantially similarfunctionality or otherwise provide adequate operation. This includes,for example, presently known alternative elements, such as those thatmight be currently known to one skilled in the art, and alternativeelements that may be developed in the future, such as those that oneskilled in the art might, upon development, recognize as an alternative.Any reference to claim elements in the singular, for example, using thearticles “a,” “an,” “the” or “said,” is not to be construed as limitingthe element to the singular.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for managing apatient support apparatus in a medical facility, comprising executing onone or more processors the following steps: receiving data indicatingthat the patient support apparatus has been scheduled for service;receiving location data indicating a location of the patient supportapparatus; receiving availability for servicing data from the patientsupport apparatus receiving location data indicating a location of asecond patient support apparatus; receiving availability for servicingdata from the second patient support apparatus; and using the locationdata and availability for servicing data from both the patient supportapparatus and the second patient support apparatus to generate asuggested order in which the patient support apparatus and the secondpatient support apparatus should be serviced.
 2. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising: sending amessage to the patient support apparatus indicating it has beenscheduled for service, the message causing the patient support apparatusto provide an indication to a user that the patient support apparatushas been scheduled for service.
 3. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 2 wherein the data indicating that the patient support apparatushas been scheduled for service is received from an application incommunication with a local area network.
 4. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 3 wherein the application is executed on one of a smartphone, tablet computer, or laptop computer.
 5. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 2 further comprising: sending a second message to thepatient support apparatus instructing the patient support apparatus tochange to an unusable configuration until servicing of the patientsupport apparatus commences.
 6. The computer-implemented method of claim1 further comprising: receiving usage data from the patient supportapparatus, the second patient support apparatus, and a plurality ofpatient support apparatuses; analyzing the usage data; and determiningif any patient support apparatuses of the plurality of patient supportapparatuses should be marked for service.
 7. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1 further comprising: communicating a time at which thepatient support apparatus has been scheduled for service to the patientsupport apparatus; and wherein the patient support apparatus displaysthe time at which the patient support apparatus has been scheduled forservice on a display of the patient support apparatus.
 8. Acomputer-implemented method for managing a plurality of patient supportapparatuses in a medical facility, comprising executing on one or moreprocessors the following steps: receiving first data indicating that afirst patient support apparatus of the plurality of patient supportapparatuses has been scheduled for service; receiving second dataindicating that a second patient support apparatus of the plurality ofpatient support apparatuses has been scheduled for service; andreceiving usage data from the plurality of patient support apparatuses;analyzing the usage data; and determining if any other patient supportapparatuses of the plurality of patient support apparatuses should bemarked for service; determining which ones of the other patient supportapparatuses are available for service; generating a list of the otherpatient support apparatuses that are available for service; receivingtechnician data indicating a technician's presence at the medicalfacility; and generating a suggested order in which the first, second,and other patient support apparatuses that are available for serviceshould be serviced.
 9. A computer-implemented method for managing aplurality of patient support apparatuses in a medical facility,comprising executing on one or more processors the following steps:receiving first data indicating that a first patient support apparatusof the plurality of patient support apparatuses has been scheduled forservice; receiving second data indicating that a second patient supportapparatus of the plurality of patient support apparatuses has beenscheduled for service; generating a suggested order in which the firstand second patient support apparatuses should be serviced; sending amessage to the first patient support apparatus instructing the firstpatient support apparatus to change to an unusable configuration untilservicing of the first patient support apparatus commences; receivingdata indicating that a technician has arrived for servicing the firstpatient support apparatus; and sending a second message to the firstpatient support apparatus instructing the patient support apparatus tomove out of the unusable configuration.
 10. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 9 wherein the unusable configuration includes locking aplurality of motors on the first patient support apparatus.
 11. Acomputer-implemented method for managing a patient support apparatus ina medical facility, comprising executing on one or more processors thefollowing steps: receiving data indicating the patient support apparatusis in need of service; determining a priority level associated with theservice in which the patient support apparatus is in need; and if thepriority level exceeds a predetermined level, sending a message to thepatient support apparatus instructing the patient support apparatus tochange to an unusable configuration until servicing of the patientsupport apparatus commences, the unusable configuration includingmovement of a section of a support deck of the patient support apparatusto an orientation adapted to deter a patient from resting on the supportdeck, and locking of the section of the support deck in the orientationuntil servicing of the patient support apparatus commences.
 12. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 11 further comprising:interrogating a tracking server prior to sending the message, thetracking server providing information indicating whether the patientsupport apparatus is currently assigned to a patient or not; anddelaying sending the message to the patient support apparatus until thetracking server indicates the patient support apparatus is not currentlyassigned to a patient.
 13. The computer-implemented method of claim 11further comprising sending a second message to the patient supportapparatus if the priority level does not exceed the predetermined level,the second message causing the patient support apparatus to provide anindication to a user that the patient support apparatus has been markedfor service.
 14. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 furthercomprising determining if a current time and date fall within a timewindow associated with a scheduled service time and date for the patientsupport apparatus, and sending the message to the patient supportapparatus if the current time and date fall within the time window. 15.The computer-implemented method of claim 11 wherein the data indicatingthe patient support apparatus is in need of service is received from thepatient support apparatus and is received as usage data indicating adegree of usage of one or more components of the patient supportapparatus.
 16. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 wherein thedata indicating the patient support apparatus is in need of service isreceived from a server located remote from the medical facility, theserver including a database indicating a previous time and date ofservice and a recommended service interval between service dates.